Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines from Apple, including iPhone 17 Slim design problems, iPhone reboot mystery solved, iPhone SE targets March, Mac Mini upgrades, iPhone 16 parts go on sale, iCloud’s latest legal challenge, and Google’s iOS AI option.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes.
Customers inspect the new iPhone 16 at the Apple Store in Bangkok. (Photo by Peerapon … [+]
The Plan Says Thin, So How Does iPhone Win?
Apple’s ambitious plans for a thin and fashionable iPhone 17 Slim looks to have found its greatest enemy… physics. The new materials that Apple was counting on to reduce the thickness of the circuitry inside a squashed form factor are not ready for consumer use. If thin is going to stay in, some tough decisions will need to be made:
“ions open to Apple, but each comes with its own issues. The straightforward approach would be to reduce battery capacity, impacting both short-term endurance and long-term battery health. The increased use of exotic materials to build up a thinner chassis could lead to a more fragile iPhone. The display’s complexity could also be reduced, but that leads to a drop in quality and leaves Apple in an awkward place if it is pitching the Slim as the fashionable iPhone.”
(Forbes).
iPhone Reboot Issue Discovered
Last week saw confusion over iPhoens mysteriously rebooting themselves, with law enforcement picking up on the difficulties this was causing when investigations required iPhones to be unlocked. Researchers have now confirmed the cause, and it’s a feature not a bug. Apple has set up devices running iOS 18 to reboot after three days of non-use, which improves security for users but leaves a measurable window for legal action to be taken:
“Magnet Forensics, a company that provides digital forensic products including the iPhone and Android data extraction tool Graykey, also confirmed that the timer for the feature is 72 hours. “Inactivity reboot” effectively puts iPhones in a more secure state by locking the user’s encryption keys in the iPhone’s secure enclave chip.”
(TechCrunch).
iPhone SE Production Points To March
The latest news from the supply chain reiterates the likelihood of a March 2025 launch for the next iPhone SE. Reporting on the supply chain, Ajunews notes that the demand for the SE camera has kicked into high gear to build up a stockpile ahead of final assembly:
“The outlet reports that LG Innotek usually supplies camera modules around three months before the launch of new smartphones, which tallies with rumors of an iPhone SE 4 launch in March or April 2025. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that Apple suppliers will produce around 8.6 million iPhone SE 4 units through the first quarter of next year.”
(MacRumors).
The Upgradeable Mac Mini
Thanks to iFixit’s regular teardown of new hardware, the option to upgrade the storage in the M4-powered Mac Mini has been exposed. It’s fair to say that, while the process is straightforward in terms of steps, it’s not so simple in terms of the parts. While this looks like an off-the-shelf M.2 SSD, it remains a piece of proprietary hardware, keeping you beholden to Apple for more storage:
“Recent teardowns of the M4 Mac mini show that the SSD isn’t soldered to the daughter board. While this would mean that the storage of the mini PC is user-upgradable, the case isn’t that simple. The module is proprietary, and it’s similar to the one that Apple used for Mac Studio and Mac Pro before.
(iFixit via Notebook Check).
iPhone 16 Parts Available For Purchase
Official spare parts for the iPhone 16 family are now available through “Service Parts or Tools, the company engaged by Apple to co-ordinate the self repair service. You still need to hire the extensive and burdensome Apple Repair Toolkit that ships in two flight cases, on top of buying the parts:
“A spare iPhone 16 battery will set you back $99/€109/£95 or $119/€135/£109 for the 16 Pro Max. If you mail in your old battery cell, Apple will also give you a replaced part return credit. Replacement camera assemblies start at $169/€199/£169 for the iPhone 16 and go up to $249/€299/£269. You can check out the prices on Apple’s Self Service Repair Store website linked below.”
(Apple Self Service Repair via GSM Arena).
Legal Challenge Over iCloud
Apple is facing a class action suit in the UK over the cost of its iCloud service. Consumer Group Which believes that Apple has locked-in 40 million UK users to the service and does not allow another cloud-based storage service the same access to the iOS platform as iCloud has:
“[Which] chief executive Anabel Hoult said “Taking this legal action means we can help consumers to get the redress that they are owed, deter similar behaviour in the future and create a better, more competitive market.”
“Apple has strongly denied Which’s accusations. “We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anti-competitive and will vigorously defend against any legal claim otherwise,” it said in a statement.”
(BBC News).
And Finally…
As Apple Intelligence awaits the launch of some critical parts of Apple’s move into generative AI to challenge Google’s Gemini AI, Google has launched a Gemini AI app for the iPhone. It brings both the free and the premium features of its platform to iOS, spinning out the service from a tab in the regular Goolgle App and elevating it to full app status:
“The new app allows iPhone users to interact with Google’s AI through text or voice queries and includes support for Gemini Extensions. A key feature is Gemini Live, which wasn’t available in the previous Google app implementation. When engaged in a conversation, Gemini Live appears in both the Dynamic Island and Lock Screen, letting you control your AI interactions without returning to the main app.”
(MacRumors).
Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
